Mamata Banerjee to campaign for Samjawadi Party in UP

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will campaign for Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, the party’s vice-president Kiranmay Nanda said on Tuesday. He also said that Banerjee’s party Trinamool Congress will not contest the election in UP.

Nanda, held an hour-long meeting with Banerjee at her residence on the issue on Tuesday. “The Trinamool Congress will not contest in UP and will support Samajwadi Party in the fight against the BJP. Mamata Banerjee will hold virtual campaigns along with SP president Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow and Varanasi, Nanda told reporters after the meeting. He added that Banerjee will be Lucknow on February 8 and will attend a virtual campaign. “She will also hold a joint press conference with Akhileshji,” Nanda said after the meeting.

Banerjee is also scheduled to visit Varanasi later in February but the date is yet to be finalised, he said. “She will visit Varanasi for a virtual meeting,” Nanda said adding that most campaigns are being held virtually due to Covid restrictions. Assembly elections in all 403 Assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7.

During the last Bengal assembly polls, the Samajwadi Party had decided against contesting in the state and extended its support to the Trinamool. Akhilesh Yadav shares cordial terms with Mamata Banerjee and had attended the grand opposition meeting hosted by her in January 2019.

Nanda had merged his party, the West Bengal Socialist Party with Samajwadi Party in 2010. He was fisheries minister in West Bengal as part of the former Left Front government in West Bengal.